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What’s new in technology for individuals with impaired vision?

Tue, 09/05/2017 - 16:58 - Laurie Orlov

Lots of talk about technology talking to us. We are in a 'voice-first-this' and 'voice-first-that' that moment in technology history. So much buzz, that even Apple thinks Siri may need to wise up and consider the competition – which is speaking to us from everywhere, and has even (in research) reduced the error rate down to 5.1%. Of course, when you imagine that voice tech is used for in-car navigation systems (Drive to Western Avenue – no not cistern, I said Western!) and may be driving home automation systems, alerting to falls, and assisting home health aides, it’s important to have very high expectations for very low error rates.

Vision loss in older adults – a problem worth speaking about and assisting. As many as 11 million older adults have age-related macular degeneration (the leading cause of vision loss among people aged 60+), expected to reach 22 million by 2050. Given long life expectancy, 30% of the population aged 75+ may have advanced macular degeneration, which results in vision loss and possible blindness. Beyond macular degeneration, other causes of vision loss for one in three older adults include glaucoma, cataracts, and diabetic retinopathy. Among the most likely to be affected? Non-hispanic white women – and will include 2.5 million by 2050, 610,000 of whom will be blind. To put that in perspective, today there might be 1.3 million in the US who are legally blind and 5.5 million seniors today who are either blind or visually impaired. The data on this is not consistent – it is surveyed and counted differently by disparate sources.